PHIL 304 Authenticity: From Rousseau to Post-Structuralism (Not offered 1998-99)

The eighteenth-century aesthetician Edward Young once asked: "Born originals, how comes it to pass we die copies?" In the same century Rousseau answers this question about the origins of inauthenticity by charting the individual's "fall" into society. This course begins with Rousseau's account and traces this idea in both literary and philosophical texts associated with romanticism and existentialism (egs., Hegel, Stendhal, Flaubert, Novalis, Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Marx, Benjamin, Heidegger, Sartre), and the self-analysis of the psychoanalytic tradition. We conclude with recent challenges to the coherence and value of the ideal of authenticity (egs., Foucault, Baudrillard). Themes and questions investigated include the following: (1) Must "authenticity" refer to some notion of a core or deep self? Are there other terms in which we can imagine being ourselves? (2) Can one adopt authenticity as a project; or, do analysis and reflection invariably defeat such a project? (3) Does being authentic require defying social conventions? Is it compatible with being affected by them? (4) What impact do mass production and consumerism have on the possibilities for authenticity today? (5) What is the relationship between madness and authenticity? (6) Is the ideal of authenticity gendered? Requirements: weekly 1-2 page essays or outlines, and three 5-page papers.
Prerequisite: Philosophy 101 or 201 or instructor's permission.

SAWICKI